Ambition In Overdrive Merrilee Finch Passed Cancer, Phobia On Her Road To Success

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January 8, 1990|By Oscar Suris of The Sentinel Staff

More precisely, the syndrome is a stress disorder in which attacks of panic reach an uncontrollable state.

''They get this overall feeling of impending doom, as if they are going to die. . . . It is just anxiety running beyond anything that we can understand,'' said Robert Newsom, a Chicago-based psychologist who has written extensively about the syndrome.

Ironically, Newsom had been a friend of Finch for 16 years before learning she was agoraphobic.

''She was always and still is a perfectionist,'' he said. ''She's very much hard driving. And she always has a tendency to worry . . . about making sure everything turns out right for herself and everyone else around her. . . . These are common patterns.''

Finch lived 13 years with her attacks before knowing what caused them. A 1978 episode of 60 Minutes tipped her off.

''I was in the kitchen and I heard this woman's voice on the TV and she was telling my story,'' Finch said.

That same year, Finch read a newspaper article about a drug called Tofranil, which helps control the abnormal surges of adrenalin in panic attacks.

Finch started taking the drug and, along with group and personal therapy, began to control her fears.

Instead of fearing insanity, Finch found her syndrome was similar to epilepsy - controllable through medication. Treatment has allowed to have a career and a social life.

''It is very important to a person with agoraphobia that you have control,'' she said. ''For 13 years, I didn't know what I had. . . . That was the most horrible part.''